WILL PRESIDENT OBAMA DEPORT ELVIRA ARELLANO?

by Ryan Campbell | March 18, 2014

Dear President Obama and Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson,

We, the undersigned organizations, ask you for the immediate parole of Elvira Arellano, her son Saul, a United States citizen, and her 4-month old baby boy. Elvira, TIME Magazine’s 2006 Person of the Year, was wrongly deported in 2007 after seeking sanctuary in a Chicago church. Earlier this month President Obama announced that his administration would begin to approach deportation policy in a more “humane” way. Allowing Elvira, and the mothers and children with her who are currently detained, to come home is the first action the President should take to deliver on his promise. President Obama, bring Elvira home.

Elvira’s story is well-known, grabbing headlines and the attention of then-Senator Obama, who went on record as saying that she shouldn’t be deported. When she was faced with a deportation order, Elvira went to the Adelberto Methodist Church where she stayed with her son. When she stepped outside the church, she was quickly arrested and deported despite the fact that she had a citizen son and was not a security risk.

Elvira should never have been deported. When she was deported President Obama, then an Illinois Senator, said: “I’ve met with Elvira Arellano and her son, and I understand the challenges that they and millions of other undocumented immigrants face. . . If President Bush cannot lead on this issue, I will, by reviving our national discussion on comprehensive reform in my first year in the White House.”

Now, as President Obama enters his 6th year in office we still don’t have immigration reform, on the contrary, more than 2 million individuals have been deported under his administration. The President’s administration continues to deport 400,000 Elvira’s every year. Elvira’s struggle represents the larger fight for our families. If this President truly understands the pain of millions of families that have to deal with aggressive enforcement system, then he will allow Elvira and the other families to return to their home in the U.S.